


Spangled

by Buckysaur



Category: Captain America (Movies), Tangled (2010), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossdressing, Fanart Included, Human Experimentation, M/M, POV Bucky Barnes, Steve is a Princess, Stevepunzel, Tangled AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 11:57:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3895447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buckysaur/pseuds/Buckysaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[ON HIATUS] </p><p>On his quest to avenge himself against the person who took his left arm, Bucky ends up hiding from his enemies in a curious tower. Inside, he meets someone impossible. Together they decide to right the wrongs in the world, and go on the most dangerous adventure at least one of them has ever had. Along the path to happiness, they both find things they'd been missing in each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spangled

**Author's Note:**

> Once upon a time, this started as crack. Then, the plotbunnies attacked.

Bucky runs through the woods, his metal fingers locked around the frail diadem. His legs are a blur as he goes, much like the trees as they pass him. He looks over his shoulder and, although he is panting, can't help a grin when his eyes catch the royal guardsman, pursuing him on his white horse, riding head-on into a low hanging tree branch.

Bucky barks out a laugh when the man topples off the horse, landing in a painful looking pile of limbs beneath the tree. The horse continues its pursuit, however, with what seems like redoubled effort. Bucky curses. Maybe it's angry that its rider has left him to catch a thief all by himself? The poor thing doesn't even have hands to hold him, much less the capability to tie him up.

Bucky grabs a tree and swings around it, scraping his human hand through its glove as the bark digs into his skin. He doesn't mind the pain, however, because the sharp ninety degree turn throws the horse off his path, and it gallops away into the distance.

"Stupid animal," Bucky mutters under his breath. His run turns into a jog and then he comes to a halt. After a moment spent panting heavily with his hands resting on his knees, he straightens and pockets the golden diadem in his shoulder bag.

The Hydra goons he had tricked into helping him steal it are nowhere to be found, and the horse's rider seems to be clear out where he fell, because Bucky doesn't hear any shouting. A smug grin spreads across his cheeks, revealing happy dimples. Another theft accomplished. Selling this diadem might just get him some solid information about the whereabouts of the Skull.

 

Bucky continues his way through the woods at a leisurely pace, his hands snugly tucked away in his pockets as he whistles a cheerful tune. One second he is mentally patting himself on the shoulder, the next he is thrown face-first onto the forest floor.

He can _feel_ the future bruises, to be shaped like horseshoes, taking form on his shoulder blades.

"Goddamnit!" he exclaims, followed by a second of flailing in the dirt. He glares over his shoulder to find the horse standing behind him. It even has the audacity to look smug. "I got rid of you!" Bucky adds. He doesn't care that he's talking to a horse. It's a _rude_ horse _,_ he can shout at it all he wants.

The horse makes a dignified huffing sound and-- _is it rolling its eyes?_ Bucky's glare intensifies. "Go away. Shoo," he huffs back. He underlines the command with a motion of his hands as he gets to his feet, ready to turn around and walk away. He's not about to be held back by some stupid animal.

Before he can even take his first step, the horse butts its nose into the back of his neck. It whinnies a laugh when the move sends Bucky stumbling into a tree. Bucky's already intensified glare breaks new boundaries when he regains his footing and turns his head to eye the animal accusingly.

The horse looks around innocently, as if to say 'Who, me? No, kind sir, I didn't shove you into a tree _at all._ '

"Alright, that's _it_ ," Bucky decides, and grabs for the horse's reins. The horse side-steps him and affectively dodges, sending Bucky flailing once again when he does not find the purchase he was grasping for. It whinnies again and scrapes it right hoof over the forest floor in what Bucky would swear is an imitation of booming laughter.

"Oh no you didn't." Bucky narrows his eyes, and grabs for the reins again. This time he uses his metal arm, and when the horse tries to step back Bucky is too fast for it. He tugs the protesting horse closer to the tree, and ties it securely to a thick branch. Bucky grins triumphantly as he steps away from the tree, admiring his masterpiece.

The horse lowers its ears and whinnies pathetically, its tail swishing from side to side and then disappearing between its hind legs as if it were a sad puppy.

"Nope, I'm not letting you go. You're mean," Bucky tells it, "and I'm talking to a horse. Great."

He shakes his head and then turns around to continue his way through the forest, when he hears the thumping of hooves behind him. He jerks back around, expecting more of the palace's horsemen pursuing him, but instead of the city's white, the horses he catches sight of are black.

Bucky mutters a curse under his breath. He can take the palace's men any day, but HYDRA are a completely different story. Cut one head off, and two more will appear. He can't fight these men off even if he tried. He needs to run and hide, _fast._

Bucky scans his surroundings, and his calculating eyes fall onto the horse. The animal gives him the most pathetic look Bucky has ever seen on anyone, human or animal alike. Bucky glares at it. "No. Not happening."

The horse bends its front legs, bowing in Bucky's direction, and honest to god _wags its tail_.

Bucky is about to say 'no' to it again when the HYDRA goons ride into the clearing he's standing in, quickly surrounding him. He turns his back to the horse. _Fuck._ He wasted what little time he had to escape _conversing with an animal._

"James Buchanan Barnes," the voice of one of the HYDRA goons, probably their leader, sounds through his black helmet. "We meet again."

"Are you sure?" Bucky asks cockily, tilting his chin up. "Normally you guys don't survive the first meeting with me." The bravado is all for show, an attempt to win time while he assesses the situation.

The leader-goon laughs. "This time," he tells Bucky with a deep, amused voice. " _You_ will be the one who doesn't survive."

Bucky grits his teeth and makes a quick mental inventory of his gear. Three knives strapped to his thighs, two to his calves. A miniature crossbow as well as a small dagger strapped to his right arm. And, of course, his left arm, which is a weapon in itself.

Eight weapons. Six goons surrounding him, and probably more on their way. On horses. Armed to the teeth. (Literally, the Skull has a strange fashion sense.) If he were to fight them... he can't be sure of his survival.

He's trapped.

Trapped with the stupid horse that is now _chewing_ _on the fabric of his shirt covering his elbow_ like the stupid animal it-- The horse whinnies. Not the pathetic whinny from before, but an urgent kind of noise, a whine, as if to catch his attention. He turns his head, and the horse stares at him with with an intense look in its eyes. For a moment, Bucky feels that if the horse could talk, it would be saying 'Come with me if you want to _not_ die.' Then he realises how stupid that is because horses _can't talk_ and Bucky can't read minds.

However, his mental interpretation of the horse, however ridiculous, does give him an idea. It's a bad idea. Bucky can't help but groan at himself. Nevertheless, it being _bad_ doesn't change the fact that it's his _only_ idea.

As the HYDRA goons laugh, clearly convinced they have Bucky more trapped than he actually is, Bucky sneaks back a few steps to undo the knot in the horse's reins. When they're loose, he jumps up against the tree, using it as leverage to push himself up into the horse's saddle. The HYDRA leader-goon stops laughing. Bucky grins.

With a loud battle cry, he leans forward, holding tightly onto the reins. The horse, once again seeming to have some sort of psychic connection with him, make an impressive noise and moves forward threateningly.

HYDRA's horses take a step back (clearly, they are startled by how badass Bucky's newly acquired four-legged friend is). Given the opening, said friend takes the opportunity to gallop out of the clearing.

It is at this point that Bucky realises he has never before ridden a horse, and he does the only thing his lightly panicked mind can think of, which is wrap his arms around the horse's neck and hold on for dear life.

Weighed down with weapons and other gear, the HYDRA goons don't stand a chance in their impromptu chase through the woods, and it isn't long before Bucky's horse slows down to a stop. Suddenly, (perhaps prompted by Bucky's mental notion of it being 'his horse') it kicks its hind legs, and Bucky flies off over its head, landing in a graceless pile before the horse's front hooves.

"What in the hell was that for?!" Bucky squawks as he gets to his feet. "I thought we were starting to get along!"

The horse shoots him a horsy version of a raised eyebrow. Bucky doesn't know how, given that it doesn't _have_ eyebrows, but it manages. Then, it pointedly nods it's nose towards the Palace's sun logo on the side of its saddle. Then, it _licks Bucky's face --_ his _entire_ face -- and trots off.

Bucky stares at its retreating tail, which swishes from side to side gracefully as the animal walks away. "I'm fucking going insane," he mutters to no tree in particular -- which, case in point. Bucky turns around and takes off in the opposite direction.

 

It takes him five minutes of wandering to realise that he has no idea where he is, and another five to get annoyed because it's already getting dark, and even the setting sun, clearly marking the west, isn't very helpful in guiding his way somewhere safe.

When the first stars appear Bucky gives up trying to find his way in favour of searching for some sort of cave to take shelter in, and he finally discovers something. Behind a wall of ivy, which at first seems to be covering a rock, is an entrance.

Bucky walks through it, squinting his eyes into the darkness. He was expecting a cave, but instead he sees light in the distance. A tunnel? Wearily keeping his left hand raised as a weapon, Bucky walks through the tunnel. What he discovers at the other end can only be described as an oasis _,_ surrounded by walls of rock.

Moonlight illuminates a field of grass by the side of a pond and a trail of flowers leading from the end of the tunnel to a tall tower, which is impossibly slim at the bottom but much wider at the top. Bucky sees no door at the base on his side, but at the top of the tower he can see light shining out from a window.

"That's not mysterious at all," he mutters to himself, because, really, who in their right mind would build their house here, of all places? It's a nice hideout and all, but it's also in the middle of nowhere.

There is clearly a person in the tower, though, and a person means food. After spending all of his afternoon running through the forest instead of celebrating (like he had planned to) Bucky is mighty hungry. Maybe he can just... Pretend he is a lost traveller looking for a bite to eat and a place to sleep? It wouldn't even be a complete lie. Two out of three isn't a bad score, as far as Bucky's usual stories go.

He approaches the tower and circles its base. Strangely, he finds no door to enter the tower anywhere. It's entire base is covered by ivy. Bucky even tugs at a few strands to see if perhaps the entrance is simply hidden by low hanging vines, but all of the plants have grown attached to the side of the tower.

What kind of strange person lives in this building with no entrance? Could it be some kind of witch? Bucky shakes his head, forbidding himself to worry. He needs a place to stay, and this tower is his only option.

Using two of his shorter knives, Bucky climbs along the side of the tower, up to the window. When he reaches the windowsill, he peeks through the curtains, wondering what he will find inside.

There is a girl standing in front of the back wall of the singular room that seems to occupy the top of the tower. The wall behind her is covered in paintings from floor to ceiling. It's a curious sight, but it doesn't startle Bucky until he leans forward a bit further and gasps.

The girl's blonde hair, which had been partially hidden behind the curtain when he first looked, is _impossibly_ long. Like, has-never-seen-a-hairdresser-in-her-life long. Lying-all-over-the-floor-like-not-even-kidding-you-could-probably-use-it-to-play-jump-rope-with-a-party-of-fifty long.

With the smooth whisper that only a thief's movements have, Bucky's feet land on the windowsill. He then clears his throat to announce his presence. "Uhm, excuse me, miss...?" he starts awkwardly.

Before Bucky even has the chance to blink, the girl screams and a paintbrush is flung at him. When he is splattered with bright yellow paint, Bucky _does_ blink, and then holds up his hands defensively, to show that he means no harm. "Wow, miss, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I'm a traveller and--"

"Stay back!" the girl says in a very... ungirly voice. She brandishes another paintbrush, this one covered in blue paint, and holds it up like a swordsman would a sword. She inches towards him, her long hair dragging over the floor as she does. Her bright blue eyes narrow suspiciously, and Bucky does his best to look as innocent as possible. Which, he promptly realises, is not very innocent with his all-black outfit and knives strapped to his thighs. He should have probably thought this one through a little.

"Miss, I--"

"I'm not a miss!" the... person says, once again in their very ungirly voice.

Well, that explains that.

"What are you doing here? Who sent you?!" the person of ambiguous gender continues. Ambiguous, because they are wearing a long, pink dress, for fuck's sake! What was Bucky supposed to think?

"I--" The blue paintbrush looms threateningly before his nose, and Bucky stares down at it. "No one sent me," he says, aiming for calm, but he can't help a slight squeak in his voice, because _what the fuck._

A streak of paint is flung onto his cheek. "You are _lying_ ," the person says accusingly, their eyes now narrowed to slits. Which, boy, is rather a pity, because those eyes are _gorgeous --_ aaaaand Bucky really shouldn't be admiring a person's aesthetics when being threatened. Even if said threat is paint on his face.

"I'm really not, I wasn't sent by any--"

The person huffs, annoyed, and flicks a long, golden strand of hair over their shoulder. They plant their empty hand on their hip, cocking it to the side. For someone trying not to appear as a 'miss,' they are doing a real poor job at it.

"Yes you are," they say. "You said you are a traveller, but you are not. What are you?!"

The tip of the paintbrush is now actually touching his nose. The cold feeling of the paint and the rather slimy sensation of the hairs of the brush poking into his nostrils is very unpleasant. Maybe Bucky should add a paintbrush or two to his arsenal, because he is starting to see the appeal of them as weapons.

The paintbrush pokes him, and he realises he should be answering. He spreads his fingers a bit wider, trying to portray the fact that he isn't planning to fight this person. "I'm lost, I'm just looking for a safe place to stay tonight, if you would allow me, please." He throws the person his most smouldering puppy eyes, and as if on cue, his stomach rumbles sadly.

The paintbrush finally disappears, and the person puts their paintbrush-holding fist to their chin, assessing him. Then, they smile. "Alright," they say in a beatific voice, but then their face turns to a dark scowl. "But don't try anything funny." The paintbrush twitches in their hand, and Bucky swallows. He vigorously shakes his head.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" he squeaks.

 

* * *

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my lovely RP buddy Mary for co-mothering this strange brainchild with me, as well as making the glorious fanart for this chapter! May there be many more.
> 
> You can find the fanart here: http://nyoomberry.tumblr.com/post/118381130455/an-illustration-for-the-first-chapter-of-spangled
> 
> Thank you Porsha, Mary's friend, who I don't know, for encouraging this insane story. You rock.
> 
> Thank you for the lovely Lepore for giving me the title. I am appaled that I couldn't think of it myself.
> 
> Thank you to the sweet Sariau for betareading this and correcting ALL the autocorrect fudgeups.


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